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"Yamaha did it again. They married ease of use, reliability, quality and networked audio into a system no one can touch.
In my mind, Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. has single handily revolutionized church audio with the release of the M7CL and LS9. They developed consoles at a price point low enough to allow even the smallest of churches the opportunity to enhance their services and further support their ministries. We all know that church auditoriums support many different events. Those events require many different console configurations. In the analog world this can be difficult. The installation of a digital console in any of those environments can be a welcome addition. Yamaha has brought that possibility closer to many of us.
When I was asked to review an M7CL-48ES, I actually couldn't wait to get ahold of it. I had a middle school retreat coming up a couple weeks later that would offer a great opportunity to see how the new networkable options really panned out. I was also excited about the opportunity NOT to take my 40-pair, 100-foot long snake with me.
Over the last seven years, I have been blessed enough to get quite a bit of experience with Yamaha digital consoles. At the church where I work, we have 13 of them spread out in 11 different auditoriums. From the DM2000 and the LS9-16 to the M7CL-48 and all the way up to the PM5D. Yamaha has been a staple in my world and I was hoping that this new version of the M7CL is able to stand up next to its predecessor.
I am very familiar with the M7CL and its feature-rich components, and most of us know about its capabilities, but, as a review... The M7CL is available in 32- and 48-channel frames, both with the addition of four stereo inputs. The M7CL also has 16 auxiliary outputs and eight matrices. It features internal 31-band EQs and effects that are good enough for any mix. My favorite feature is the recallable head amps that afford you the ability to support multiple events in the same room without losing your settings from sound checks or rehearsals.
Yamaha was gracious enough to send me two SB168-ES EtherSound Stage Boxes along with the M7CL-48ES console. When daisy-chained together, this gave me a total of 32 inputs and 16 outputs (on stage) with remote controllable headamps. The eight omni inputs and eight omni outputs on the back of the console bring the total I/O to 40 inputs/24 outputs, more than enough inputs for the six-piece rock band that was leading worship that weekend. I also was able to run six monitor mixes along with my main left and right feeds. Keep in mind, I ran all this on a single CAT5e cable running from the console to the stage. Not only did this cut down on the setup time, that CAT5e cable was 75 pounds lighter than the 40-pair analog snake I spoke of earlier.
After the cable was run, all that needed to happen was the addressing of the stage boxes. After that was done, I flipped the power button on the stage boxes and then the console. (Tip: turn the stage boxes on first… less headaches.) Once I figured out the sequence, the console and stage boxes automatically configured themselves, and I was ready to pass audio through the system.
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BRAD DORAN is a husband, father of two, and is the audio and lighting systems director at Grace Community Church in Noblesville, Ind. In his spare time, he enjoys talking and learning from others involved in production ministries.
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